


Wanderings

by ExplainingTheIndescribable



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 21:04:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16772908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExplainingTheIndescribable/pseuds/ExplainingTheIndescribable
Summary: AU. In another life, a world where Regina was abandoned by Cora and orphaned as a baby, she was raised amongst the townsfolk and led a somewhat different life… As did Emma, raised in the castle by Snow and Charming.Sometimes, we expect things to change or we want them to, but they don't. But all wanderings eventually lead somewhere on the tapestry of life.





	Wanderings

Regina looked at Robin. This aesthetically-pleasing man, the kindest, most caring person she had known in her life, standing in front of her, holding a gaze with only adoring, unrepentant love in his eyes.

“Regina, I have loved you with every beat of my heart, since the day you crashed into my life,” Robin paused in his vows, breaking into a smile at the memory of Regina leaping from a tree and literally crashing at two pairs of feet, and scaring away the beast Robin hadn’t noticed lurking in the shadows of the copse of trees they were approaching. Robin had taken Roland on a berry hunt, which had distracted Regina from her actual hunt for Red – she’d promised Granny she’d find her, after another night of her wandering off in an attempt to live the life of a ‘normal’ 20-something year old; of course that was before Red had left with her new pack. Robin had patched Regina up and things had seemed to grow from there.

At least, that was the way Robin felt; he always made his feelings very clear. It was something Regina admired about him, even if she didn’t understand it and struggled to be so clear in her emotions herself. She supposed she was just not that emotional of a person.

Life in the Enchanted Forest was never going to be normal, but with Robin it seemed to be as good as it was going to get. Regina had read enough love stories to know what was always shown to be love, when she found it.

“Sorry, excuse me,” Emma whispered as she squeezed past the couple at the end of her pew and slipped out of the side door of the church. She’d done her job and tried out this whole wedding planner thing for her mom, and knew she knew it wasn’t for her. Time to find the next thing, she told herself; it had nothing to do with wanting to avoid watching the most incredible woman she had come to know over the past few days marry Robin; nope, not at all.

Regina noticed a door open and flash of blonde disappear to the outside before it closed again, but couldn’t see much else through the band of merry folk. Emma must have left. The thought was not a happy one for some reason Regina couldn’t fathom in the moment, but it didn’t matter, right? Not today; this was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Regina turned back to Robin at the altar and smiled; the only one to notice that it didn’t quite reach her eyes, was Robin’s best man, four year old Roland.

A world away from where Regina was now taking her turn, saying her vows, Emma was sat in front of her dresser, trying to convince Snow that organising a wedding once, was more than enough.

“Mom, I really don’t think this is a long-term profession for me…”

“It’s not forever,” Snow patted her arm in an attempt at comfort, “once you know what you want to do, then you can go and do it! This is just… for fun, you know, in the meantime.”

“It’s not exactly my idea of fun.” Emma pulled the hairs out of her hairbrush, but then, it wasn’t like she’d develop a crazy infatuation with every bride she planned a wedding for, would she? That had definitely taken away any potential for… fun.

Charming chose that moment to appear in the doorway, “not enjoying your new job?”

“No, not exactly,” Emma grumbled moreso than she felt.

“Well I don’t hear any better suggestions,” Snow looked pointedly at Charming. They’d been worried about Emma for a while, since Ruby left she’d been keeping herself at a distance from pretty much everyone. Without knowing how else to help, they attempted to keep her busy. Though evidently, not very successfully or happily.

“And besides,” Snow continued, “Robin’s a dear friend and I’m glad we got to help him out.” Emma nodded in resignation. “So,” Snow prodded, “how was the wedding?”

“It was fine.”

Charming leant against the bedpost, silently motioning to Snow that he wanted to talk to Emma in private for a second, as though Emma couldn’t see it all in her dresser mirror. Snow waved her hands in a defeated gesture and excused herself. Once she left, Charming walked over to Emma and took the chair beside her.

“Do you want to tell me what’s really going on?” Emma didn’t mean to ignore him she just didn’t know what answer to give. The silence stretched between them. “Look, you don’t have to tell me. Just, maybe talk to someone? We’re worried about you. Your mother and I just want you to be happy.”

“But how do I even find out what that means for me?” Emma sighed, “I just…” Emma thought back to Red needing to leave and meeting Regina for the first time as her wedding planner of all things. “I feel like, every time I find a path that feels like it might be right, there’s already some giant obstacle in the way.”

“The right path isn’t always going to be easy…” Emma knew Charming would say something like that.

“I know,” she replied petulantly. “Sometimes the obstacles are pretty big though.”

Like needing to leave to travel with a pack of werewolves, or already being engaged to someone.

“That just means you’ve got to be bigger.” Emma looked at him; Charming spoke as though he had all the wisdom and knowledge in the world. Normally, that is what it sounded like. But in this specific context, she had no idea what to do with that. She gave him a small smile and nodded.

“Promise me, you’ll try?” Emma hesitated, but agreed. “Your happiness is worth fighting for; I hope you know that by now.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Before Emma could even try to figure out what that would look like without Red, Snow came rushing in with a squeal, not even close to hiding her excitement.

“You’ve got a visitor.”

“Okay?”

Snow rolled her eyes at Emma, “would it kill you to be a little more excited…”

Charming chuckled, “it just might,” he teased as Emma looked between her parents, unamused.

Realising no one was going to ask for more details, Snow continued regardless, “she’s a very accomplished woman, a princess from one of the Northern kingdoms.”

Emma tried to smile at her mother but it came out a grimace, “a princess?” Great, Red hadn’t been gone a month and they were already trying to set her up with the next One.

Charming looked worriedly between them, “Snow, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea-“

“Oh come on, she can decide for herself, after she meets her.” Snow sidled over to Emma and stage whispered, “She’s very beautiful.”

Emma mumbled under her breath, “because that’s all that matters…” She supposed she couldn’t expect less from her; though for once she just wished her mother would realise something without having to be told it, like that her daughter needed some space and time to breathe and not a bunch of useless tasks designed to make her feel ‘useful’. She just wanted to be.

Whilst Emma was pretending to go along with her mother’s plan, Regina was taking a break from the dancing and festivities at their little marquee outside the pub, to sit by the punch and enjoy a quiet moment of reflection. She had thought it would feel different, being married. She had thought it would feel… more. It didn’t feel the way the other women in the village had told her it would, they way they felt; she didn’t feel giddy with joy or overwhelmed with love-related emotions. She felt calm, but off-centre. Something was nagging at the edge of her mind, but she couldn’t figure it out.

She cared for Robin deeply, and she had meant it when she said she loved him. But as the night wore on, she looked at him dancing and finally accepted it wasn’t going to change. She realised what it was clawing at her attention; she couldn’t force herself into something she didn’t feel and nothing had changed. Except now, she was married to a wonderful man, she didn’t love. Regina had thought a lot of things about her time with Robin, but she had never thought she would feel like something this big and yet so small, was missing.

A sleepy Roland approached Regina at this point, holding his arms up as he did when he wanted to be lifted. Regina picked him up and placed him on her lap. “Tired?”

Roland nodded. Regina leaned back and allowed him to rest against her.

Regina was pulled from her thoughts by a small voice, “have you thanked the lady?”

Regina looked at him distractedly, “hm? Which lady, dear?”

“The wedding lady,” he yawned, “the pretty one.”

Regina chuckled, “Emma,” she emphasised the name to help him remember it, “is the pretty lady.”

A thought flickered through Regina’s mind that Emma was very pretty, it would be pretty hard to miss.

Roland nodded, “Emma.”

Regina paused and considered, “do you know, in everything I think I forgot to thank her.”

Roland looked up at her with big brown eyes, waiting for his plan to come together, but impatiently.

“Doesn’t she get to know she did good?”

Regina couldn’t argue with that logic.

“You’re absolutely right, little man. I shall go and tell her first thing.”

Roland looked at her, but didn’t say anything.

“What, you think I should go now?!”

Roland nodded.

“But-“

At that moment, a particularly smarmy-looking ruffian in the tell-tale black leather coat of a pirate approached them, clearing his throat noisily.

“A beautiful lady such as yourself shouldn’t be sitting alone, this is a party! Come and have a drink with me,” his words would almost have been complimentary or polite in another context, if they weren’t spoken so leeringly and with such disregard for Regina’s new son-in-law.

Regina lifted Roland onto her hip and allowed herself to stand at her full height, before replying with an icy tone, “I think you’ll find we’re fine.”

Before Hook could be any more annoying, a short red-capped man drunkenly crashed into him, leaving the two to escape without any more unpleasantries, or Regina starting a fight with the lowlife, in the kerfuffle. Regina started to head out with Roland, she didn’t want to be here anymore and putting him to bed was the perfect excuse; on the way, Robin spotted them leaving.

“Are you okay?”

Robin looked at her with such open kindness in his eyes; it made Regina’s stomach knot. Before she could reply, he took Roland into his own arms, “I know that look. I know, it’s a lot, isn’t it. I did tell the merry folk not to invite everyone in the town, but well, you know what they’re like… Do whatever you need to, Regina. I’ll be at home when you get back.”

Regina kissed him on the cheek, gratefully. How could she not be in love with a man like that? Regina supposed she just wasn’t built to fall in love, or perhaps she wasn’t capable of it at all. She didn’t allow herself to dwell on the fact that now that they were married and nothing about how she felt had changed, she was pretty sure she wasn’t; but it had taught her the difference between loving someone and being in love.

These thoughts and how to talk about this to Robin preoccupied her as she wandered through the forest, feet unthinkingly taking her towards the castle.

At the castle, someone else was less concerned with thoughts and more concerned with action.

Emma was used to climbing out of her window by now, no matter how well-intentioned her parents were, until they started listening to what she actually wanted to do, she would have to dodge their decisions her own way.

She jumped the last few feet and landed expertly.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

Emma swivelled around; preparing an excuse, before realising the voice belonged to Regina.

“Regina, uh, hi- I wasn’t expecting you?”

“Clearly,” Regina chuckled. The sound alone should not have been enough to make Emma’s knees a little weak, but here they were. “I just wanted to thank you,” at Emma’s still somewhat frozen demeanour, she continued, “for the wedding? It was lovely. Truly, the best thing we could have asked for.”

Regina spoke with a smile and Emma nodded, giving a small smile in return, “yeah- I mean, of course. It was my job, right?” _Get a grip Emma._

Regina nodded, “well, that may be, but it’s still appreciated.” Regina gave her a little wink, “in fact, I was wondering about that. I’ve been told you don’t usually plan weddings…”

“It was my mom’s idea,” Emma gestured back at the palace, as though Regina would have any idea where Snow’s quarters were in the castle.

“It was your mom’s idea for her daughter, a princess, to plan the wedding of two total strangers?”

Emma nodded, “yep, that’s my mom.”

Regina inclined her head thoughtfully, “it does sound like her, not that I know her too well. Though I understand Robin and Charming go back a way…” After a moment in which Regina looked lost in thought and Emma tried to remember how normal people behaved, Regina spoke again, “anyway, I shouldn’t delay you. You’re obviously in the middle of something,” Regina gestured to the ivy-covered wall Emma had just climbed down.

“Uh, yeah. I should probably…” Emma gestured off towards the forest.

Regina looked back at the forest and then to Emma, “you’re going into the forest, alone, at this time?”

Suddenly, Emma was wishing it had been a guard that found her.

“Yep, I’ve got- I’m going to meet a friend,” she finished, lamely.

“Well, I know the forest pretty well, I’d be happy to accompany you?”

“Oh that’s- you don’t have to do that. I mean, I really appreciate the offer but-“

“I insist. It’s the least I can do to thank you for the wonderful job you did for me and Robin these past few days.”

“Oh that’s-“

Regina gave her a look and Emma knew she wasn’t going to win this one. Besides, did she really want to? Why traipse through the forest alone, until it was late enough she deemed that she had successfully dodged her date for the evening, when she could spend more time in the company of the woman in front of her, who had already entirely captivated Emma’s attention.

Regina held out her arm gallantly, which Emma took, and with that they were off. They were about half way along the path leading to the forest, Regina regaling Emma with stories of Roland’s latest shenanigans all the while, when Emma realised, she wasn’t going to meet anyone. Great; how the heck was she supposed to explain that to Regina and get out of this...?! _  
_


End file.
